„At that time in Lithuania two equal forces stood in front of each other – bourgeois nationalists and the labour people. And if our paratroopers wouldn’t have interfered, nobody knows what could have happened…“ Such a version of the events of the 13th of January of 1991 I’ve heard from Mikhail Gorbachev.

A decade ago, when in Prague a decade of the velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia was celebrated, the former leader of the Soviet Union tried to convince that one should not reject the attitudes of the other side as well.

I do not believe that somebody, who nineteen years ago has experienced those events in Vilnius, would believe that the other truth also exists. The standard of „two attitudes“ can not pass the reality. Maybe the denial of Holocaust in some Western European countries is considered to be a crime to some purpose. And nobody doubts, that this is not contradicting to the concept of the freedom of speech.

The Lithuanian journalists can be proud of themselves that after the events of the 13th of January only  one side was introduced in our public sphere, that nobody went to work in the television of collaborators (TV set up by Soviets in the in the brutally occupied Lithuanian TV and Radio premises – LTribune), the so-called “What-a vision” ‘Kaspervizija’. Then we understood that a formal hearing of different sides can not be considered as a democracy. Social life is not a scale, on the first plate of which one can put justice, respect for human rights and democratic principles, and on the second – morality and propriety.

The story of the prisons of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that is today continuing in Lithuania is one of those phenomena when two different opinions are tried to be established and the illusion of controversy is tried to be supported. If we would rest upon the principles of honour, we would have to admit regretfully that the secret prisons existed in Lithuania.

One can wonder at the work of the work of the Seimas’ Committee on National Security and Defence. Previous September all the members of this committee were convinced that it is enough to deny a rumour, made by the media. During four months the opinion of these people has changed essentially. One can come to a conclusion that the partners could bring whatever to Lithuania, without any control and to do whatever in a closed sphere, the others being unaware of this. In legal terms, this kind of conclusion is streamlined, anybody can say (and says) that as there’re no evidences, concerning the prisoners, thus, there were no prisons either. However, these kind of statements we can fling around only at home, forgetting the international context as well as the principles of state sovereignty.

Today we have no choice: only after having proved that there were no prisoners, brought to Lithuania, we will believe ourselves that there were no secret prisons. Otherwise nobody in the world will understand, why the mover of the sortie against the twins of New York, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad was taken from the secret prison in Poland to „somewhere“ exactly at that time when the object No.2 was finished to be outfitted in Antaviliai.

Only CIA could prove that there were no prison in Lithuania. However, CIA will not do this. There’s such a kind of a crime in the USA that is defined as impeding justice.

I want to believe that the wave of the so-called justice that arose in Lithuania, i.e. the drive of the denial of the secret prisons, is backed-up by the best patriotic motifs. It is necessary to rescue the honour of the state. However, neither by lying, nor by hiding his head in the sand, one can not rescue the honour. By doing this, we are only poisoning our public sphere that is not very clean.

The possibility that the story of the secret prisons can lead to the revision of Lithuanian political events of several previous years and to a totally alternative estimation of them causes the biggest fear for a lot of people. So far it was very complicated to explain rationally some of the decisions of the President Valdas Adamkus, made during his second cadence. Why did he support “Leo LT”? Why he confused between steadiness and stagnation and supported the government of Gediminas Kirkilas? Why in the case of Vytautas Pociūnas he [President Valdas Adamkus] in as many words  supported the side of the secret services?

When politicians are unified by a common secret, it is hard to expect that only the interests of a nation and state will dictate the decisions. If V.Adamkus would indeed had not known about the secret prisons, today his reaction would for sure be different – he would humanly rebel and would be the first one who would require to investigate the suspicions. A human who had matured in a democratic society, understands that even a bitter truth would better protect state’s honour than a sweet lie would do.

Someone can rejoice over the possibility that the story of the secret prisons will help to retrieve the impeached president Rolandas Paksas. I would have doubts about this. The hand of Jurijus Borisovas will not vanish, however maybe in the process of impeachment we will set eyes on more colours, not only on white and red. And we will remember once again in what a complicated geopolitical space we are living – in a space where only the truth can be an antidote against the games of foreign secret services.

Twenty years ago, when addressing himself to the nation for the first time via TV, the contemporary President of Czechoslovakia* Václav Havel* was reading his text from paper. To him it seemed that it is better to remind an old communist functionary than to trust prompter who is being steered by unknown hands.
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Gintaras Aleknonis, commentator and host of the Public Radio programmes, Dean and Lecture of the Mykolas Romeris University, former employee of the Radio Liberty.

Translated by Milda Bagdonaitė